GulfcoastStamper

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with your families and your credit cards are not maxed out cuz have I got a deal for you!  In my 14 years as a Demo, I have never seen Stampin' Up! offer FREE SHIPPING!  

On Cyber Monday, we will offer FREE SHIPPING on any order, any size, from any catalog plus the Clearance Rack!  

This is a one day, Cyber Monday special only!  

Free shipping runs from November 27 12:00 AM to November 27 11:59 PM Mountain Time.

Please use the following Hostess Code when ordering online if your order is under $150.  

The December Hostess Code is JDMBPAFV

 

So grab a cup of tea, make your wish list today for Santa or stock up on all your basic paper crafting needs (or both, lol!) while you can get it to your door for FREE!  

Remember, any order over $60 receives a FREE Wink of Stella Glitter Pen as my gift to you!  (you must use the Hostess Code above to receive the free gift!) 

Enjoy the rest of your Holiday weekend!  

Fall Fun with My Blogging Friends!

Jiminy Christmas, can you believe its November already?  I feel like I lost an entire month to Hurricane Irma and I am still playing catch-up. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and Christmas is only 54 days away!  Yikes!  I better get busy!   As fall is officially upon us, (it was 55 degrees in Naples this morning so it actually feels like fall here today!), my Bloggin Friends and I are all featuring fall projects for you today.  If you have been hopping along you should have arrived from Rick's blog.  If you stared here with me, no worries, just keep on going!  The links to all my Blogging Friends are at the bottom of this post.  

Even though I will not be cooking this year, I love the idea of a small personalized table gift for everyone around the Thanksgiving table. And wine is always a good idea. 

I had originally seen this idea HERE but the measurements were in metric so I played around until I came up with template that worked for me.   I found these little bottles of wine and the mini wine glasses at World Market but you could certainly use a full size wine glass as well.  The cello bag is from the Stampin' Up! Holiday 2016 catalog and have since been retired but I'm sure you could find something similar at your local big box craft store.  Here is a picture without the cello bag so you can see it a little more clearly.

These make a great gift for any occasion and are pretty easy to put together.  (I made several of these as table gifts for our Disney crop but I'll share that one with you a little later in the post) For this version I used the Glass Half Full Stamp Set from Stampin' Up! as well as the Painted Autumn Designer Series Paper.  

Because I was creating multiples of these I found it easier to create a template for myself so I didn't have to measure every piece.  The base is a piece of card stock of your choice cut to 8" by 10".  With the landscape side (long side) up against the base of your paper trimmer score at 1", 4.5", 5.5", and 9".  Turn so the portrait side (short side) is against the base of your paper trimmer and score at 1" and 7".  

For the two templates I cut a 3.5" x 6" piece of card stock and placed my wine bottle and wine glass where I wanted them and traced around the base of both.  Using my circles Thinlits Dies I found the one that was the best match for my wine bottle and the smallest one I could find for my glass stem.  Next I centered  them within the traced lines and cut them out with my dies for my template.  (shown in black above) 

For the cut lines for my wine glass I cut a piece of scrap to 3.5" x 3" and score at 0.5" all the way around.  I used the same circle die for the stem and then cut diagonal lines from score line to score line in both directions.  (as shown in yellow above) 

Before I did any cutting on my actual base, I covered the top and sides with the Autumn Harvest Designer Series Paper .  You will need to cut the following sizes:  1 @ 3 3/8" x 5 7/8", 2 @ 7/8' x 5 7/8" and 2 @ 7/8" x 3 3/8". 

IMPORTANT:  DO NOT COVER THE LEFT-HAND SIDE UNTIL AFTER YOU CUT THE WINE BOTTLE CIRCLE!  

If you are working with a Big Shot your cutting plate is only 6 inches wide which is too narrow to accommodate this project without cutting into the sides.  (see pic on left, above) You will need to fold the tabs up over the die before feeding it through your Big Shot in order to cut through the wine bottle circle but you will get either an impression or a cut on the left tab.  Do not let this bother you, we are going to cover it up and make it look pretty with the remaining piece of Designer Series Paper.    

Next you will need to trim the tabs on the long sides of your box base as shown above.  Adhere score tape to the flaps as shown on both the top an bottom of your box base.  

Next you will use your template to make the cut lines for your wine glass in the box top. Using a steel ruler and a knife tool, line up the cut circles and cut from score line to score line using the ruler as a guide.  Repeat in the other direction so you end up with 4 lines or an X through the die cut circle.  This will allow you to slide the base of your wine glass through the top.   

Fold the top and bottom tabs and adhere to the sides and that is it!  I did cut two rings using my Circle Thinlits dies to reinforce the wine bottle and adhered one to the top and underside for extra strength,  I cut a smaller one as well for the wine glass, cut a slit in it and adhered it with Mono Adhesive after I inserted the wine glass so my glass didn't flop around inside the packaging.  

Add some pretty ribbon and a cello bag and there you have it!  What a great Hostess gift for table gift for everyone at the table!  You could add names as place markers to the front or the tag and add chocolates to the wine glass.  The possibilities are endless! 

I will leave you today with a picture of the one I created for our girls Disney Weekend last month.  I made 10 of these in Disney colors for all my table mates and our hostess.  I did use my Silhouette to customize the wine glass tags and I used a Mickey & Minnie die as well as my Silhouette to cut vinyl for the wine glasses. (It is hard to see in the photo but if you look closely you can see Mickey & Minnie).  The little corkscrew charms were an Ali Express find.  

 

I hope you enjoyed my little wine project today and I would love to see your version if you recreate them!  But please don't stop here...head on over to our newest Blogging Friend Nicki's Blog for her Blogging Friends debut!   Funny side note:  I have never met Nicki but we share the same BFF who is totally, single-handedly to blame for both our stamping addictions!  

If you get lost along the way, links to all my Blogging Friends Fall projects are below.  Thanks for stoppin' by!  

 

Crystal Komara	Super Stamp Girl
Anna Masciovecchio	Stamp With Anna
Libby Fens	Libby Stamps
Mary Blocher	Mary Blocher Stamping
Jessica Mink	Crazy Chaotic House
Leanne Dillon Johnson	Literally My Joy
Michele Clarke	Stampin’ Up!
Mary Ann Kay Rossiter	Stampin Mak
Tammy Hibbit Gill	Stamp Inkspired
Rick Adkins	Rickinsmon Studio
Lisa Harvey-Reber	You are Here!
Nikki Debbie Daigneau	Paper & Purl Gurl

 

 

Happy Halloween!

Oh, there are so many Halloween projects that I wanted to complete this year but fate and time were just not on my side.  I'm just going to have to write this year off and move right on to Thanksgiving and Christmas.  BUT, before I do that I want to share one last Halloween card with you today and in my opinion I have saved the best for last.  

I love, love, love this witch die from Tim Holtz.  And I love her cat.  She is actually holding a broom but the minute I saw her all hunched over I envisioned her stirring her cauldron of potions.  I snipped off the broom and used the broom handle for her stirring stick.  I knew I wanted her cauldron to be a shaker so I cut the cauldron shape with my Silhouette Cameo and then off-set the cut for the outer frame that outlines her cauldron.   

The spooky awesome filler is from Kat Scrappiness , one of my favorite places for sequins and shaker bits.  I used Tim's Distress Oxides for the moon.  I made several of these cards for some of my crafty friends so I played with my oxides in several different colors.  I am still learning how to use them but I was pretty happy with the way they came out and the oxides are super fun to play with.   The background paper is something I picked up at a crop a few months ago and is from Imaginisce.  

The green potion slime and bubbles are Nuvo Crystal Drops in Apple Green.  I hope you all have a fun, safe, and Happy Halloween!  Please be sure to come back tomorrow for our Blogging Friends Blog Hop and thanks for stoppin by today!

Halloween Color Throwdown for ctd465

Woo Hoo, I'm playing along with a new-to-me challenge this week over at the Color Throwdown.  This weeks color challenge is to use a combination of purple, black and white although I will admit I was pretty stingy with the white this time around!  

Before I share my card today, let me start by saying that I am a Stampin' Up! girl through and through.  I have been a demo for going on 13 years and I think we have the best paper, ink, accessories, stamps and dies on the market.  Hands down. 

BUT, that being said, no one does Halloween like Tim Holtz.  Tim is King when it comes to Halloween.  I had a marathon craft session this past weekend trying to get caught up from Hurricane Irma and get all my very late Halloween cards completed and in the mail this week.  Here is one of those cards...

 

I used the Moonlit Owl Thinlits Die from Tim Holtz and Sizzix for my shaker card.  (The sentiment is also a Tim Holtz die but from a few years ago and since retired.)  This die is perfect for a quick shaker, most of the work was already done for me.   Did you notice that there is absolutely no stamping on this one?  A very rare occasion for me.  

 

As I mentioned earlier, I was pretty stingy with the white that was required to meet the rules of the color challenge.  The whites of my owls eyes is the only white I used other than the panel on the inside of the card. All that purple sequiny goodness was found at  Violet's Scrapbook & Rubber Stamp store in Lakeland, FL.  There are so few mom & pop scrapbook stores that have survived so we were very excited to come across this paper-addicts dream last month on our way to our Disney Crop Weekend.  For my Florida friends, its worth a road trip wherever you are.  For those of you that may be planning a trip to Orlando it is so worth the 45 minute detour.  Make sure you leave yourself enough time for dinner and pie at Dwaynes Place.  (and make sure you tell him that the girls at Violet's sent you!) 

I loved the way this turned out so I made several to send out to some of my favorite Halloween junkies.  Some had white eyes, some had orange but were all pretty much the same.  The purple swirl paper that was used on the inside of my shaker as well as the sentiment and die cut stars is from the Doodlebug Boos and Brews collection.  I'm not gonna lie...it hurt a little bit to cut into this paper.  The flip side is a bunch of super cute googlie eyes in the dark and it was the only sheet I had but I was in love with the owl against the purple swirls.  The googlie eyes had to be sacrificed.  Sigh. 

 

I will be sharing more of my Halloween cards this week so please be sure to drop by again and thanks for stoppin' by today!  

24K Thank You

Last weekend I was very fortunate and SUPER excited to see Bruno Mars live at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida thanks to my very generous boss and his wife.  Nine of us headed to the other coast on Sunday afternoon in a shuttle bus with a designated driver (Huge shout out to Tamiami Ford, Naples for the use of their shuttle and to our driver Ernie for getting us there and back safely!) We were treated to XXIV swag bags that included a black and gold satin robe (which now proudly hangs of the back of my chair in my craft room) and whisked away to a VIP room where we enjoyed hors d'oeuvre's and an open bar featuring Bruno's new rum.  (yum)

This is me and my friend Krista with our 24K Swag Bags!  

The Ceviche was sooooo good!

And Bruno was beyond awesome!  

We had fantastic seats on the floor right in front of the stage.  

It was such a great night and so much fun that I wanted to make Thank You cards for my boss and his wife and the couple that got the tickets and took care of the transportation for us.  But no ordinary thank you would do.  It had to be a 24K thank you.  This is what I came up with...

I used my Silhouette to trace the actual logo and cut it from Tonic gold mirror paper.  (I wanted Stampin' Up! gold foil paper because it cuts like a charm but I was all out) While it came out great cutting the mirror paper was a challenge.  

The inside was heat embossed in gold using the So Very Much stamp set (retired) from Stampin' Up!  

I will leave you today with a final picture from the concert and one of my favorite shots.  Thank you so much for stoppin' by today!  

Ice Dragons for Silhouette Sunday

I am an addict.  Along with the rest of the free folk.  The season 7 Game of Thrones finale is tonight and I am already having some serious withdrawal issues.  How long do we have to wait for season 8?  No word just yet but since they just started filming within the past week it is going to be a very long winter indeed.  

Two of my three sons are also GOT junkies.   My middle son Thomas and I "reserve' the TV for 8:00 every Sunday night while we recap last weeks episode and then hunker down for the new one.  Meanwhile my oldest son Ben is texting me throughout the episode with OMG and ARE YOU WATCHING THIS?  My youngest son Christopher shakes his head and doesn't understand why we are so enthralled with zombies and dragons.  He doesn't get it and he has no desire to even though I have offered to start all the way back at the beginning with him.  (the things we do for our kids!) 

Since Benjamin lives 3+ hours away in Orlando, I though it would be fun to send him a card to commemorate the final episode.  Since I do not own any dragon stamps (something I am going to have to remedy very soon) I went searching for an alternative and my Silhouette came through for me once again.  Here is the card that hopefully made it to Orlando yesterday:

I had originally made an A2 card but the dragon got a little lost.  I bumped it up a bit and the finished card was actually quite a bit larger at 7.5 x 5.5. The dragon is cut from some textured pebble card stock that I found in my stash and it turned out to be perfect to replicate dragon scales.  

Since this is a shadowbox card there are several layers and I reinforced the dragon with a few pieces of dimensional tape stacked together to help him stand tall.  The blue rhinestone gem for his eye is a tribute to last Sunday's episode.  If you are a GOT fan you will understand.  

I downloaded the Game of Thrones Font HERE to create the inside of my card.  This was super fun to make and one that I think Ben will get a kick out of.  SO, are you a GOT fan too?  I'd love to hear what you think of my Ice Dragon!  

Thanks for spending part of your Sunday with me and thanks for stoppin' by!  

 

Girlfriend Gifts

I have a great group of crafty friends.  We all have busy lives with jobs and families but we manage to sneak away a few times a year for crops and retreats and get our much needed girl time in.  (It is the best way to re-group and re-charge, especially when you are surrounded by a house full of men) It is often the only time we get to see each other as several of our group are scattered across the state.  

It has kind of become a thing to make a small 'table gift" for each person at these little getaways.   I recently shared some pictures of our latest getaway to Cocoa Beach.  Today I thought I would share some of the table gifts I created for my friends.  Since we were gone the weekend before Easter my gifts kind of took on an Easter theme.  

Table Gift Day 1

I have had these little treat boxes hanging around for ages.  (I think they came from www.clearbags.com).  I found these milk chocolate Hazlenut (Hazlenut!!!)  bunnies at a Lindt store and couldn't resist.  A little tweaking of a Silhouette file to fit the front of my clear box, some pink paper shred and a pink ribbon bow and my first gift was done.

The little stitched bunny tag was die cut with a new die from Lil' Inkers.  I found this little stamp and die company totally by accident and I am now a HUGE fan.  They are located in Massachusetts (my home state) and I am happy to support any home team! Shipping is super fast and I am hooked on their double stitched dies...freakin' genius!  You can check them out HERE.  

Table Gift Day 2

 

My Silhouette to the rescue again! This super cute little stand-alone bunny is from a file in the Silhouette store.  The bunny's tummy is an EOS lip balm.  And every bunny needs a cotton tail.  Super cute, super quick and super easy!  

Table Gift Day 3

This one started with the bright colored chocolate Easter eggs and Stampin' Up's egg cartons.  I loved the bright. bold colors of the eggs (no pastels for this group!) and wanted my gift packaging to match.  I used Stampin' Up! reinkers in Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie to spritz my egg cartons and then made my chicks from the Sale-a-Bration set Hey Chick a little wild and crazy to match.  

Table Gift Day 4

For our last day I created a cute little 3D holder for those little Lindt carrots that we only see at Easter time.  The base was made from Stampin' Up! Thick Whisper White card stock for extra durability.  Both the paper and that adorable little bunny are from my March Simon Says Stamp card kit.  I have had so much fun with this set and will be sharing some cards I created with it in my next Blog post.  

We have another crop weekend coming up in June and of course our Disney retreat in September.  I need to get working on my gifts for those!  

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stoppin' by!

Cocoa Beach

I just spent 5 glorious days at the beach with three of my craftiest friends.  We ate too much, drank too much, slept too little and got lots of scrapping and crafting done.  I was the rookie of the bunch as this is an annual crop that my friends have all attended before but it was my first time at this particular crop.  It was a 4 1/2 hour drive from home but well worth the trip!  (we have already reserved our spots for next year!)  

We headed from the west coast to the east coast, across the middle of the state, to Cocoa Beach or what is also known as the Space Coast; home of the Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Air Force Base.  The weather was warm but overcast and windy.

 Our first night we hit the pier, had an awesome seafood dinner and a bucket of rum.  Yes, a bucket. 

The weather continued to improve the remainder of the week and was sunny and warm, hovering right around 80 degrees. Perfect Florida weather! You would think 5 days of R&R and Creative time would be enough, but sadly we did not see as much of the pool or beach as we would have liked.  Guess we will just have to extend our stay next year!

However, we did mange to complete a lot of projects and play with some new toys.  I have recently become obsessed with water coloring but I am a novice.  I spent a lot of time watching videos and learning how to use my new Zig Clean Color Markers. LOVE them! They make it easy to get really good results after just a little bit of practice. More on those later.  

  

The crop was held at the DoubleTree right on Cocoa Beach.  If you are looking for a great hotel with a fantastic staff I would highly recommend them.  

 an

On Saturday night my oldest son Ben and his girlfriend Amanda drove up from Orlando, which is about 40 minutes away, and had dinner with us.  We found a great little restaurant right on the water...more sun and seafood!  

I created little "table gifts' for my table mates for every day we were at the crop.  I will be sharing those in the next few days!  Thanks for letting me share my weekend getaway with you and thanks for stoppin' by!

 

Collier County Honor Flight

This past week I was asked to make 22 Thank You cards for the gentlemen heading from Naples to Washington D.C. on the Collier County Honor Flight, Mission 11. If you are not familiar with the Honor Flight Network I urge you to visit their website:  

The Honor Flight Network is "a non-profit organization dedicated to providing veterans with honor and closure".  

Our Mission: To transport America’s Veterans to Washington, DC to visit those memorials dedicated to honor the service and sacrifices of themselves and their friends.

Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans for all their sacrifices. We transport our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.

Of all of the wars in recent memory, it was World War II that truly threatened our very existence as a nation—and as a culturally diverse, free society. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 640 WWII veterans die each day. Our time to express our thanks to these brave men and women is running out.

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I was truly honored to be able to provide cards for this group but I am severely lacking in the ownership of military or patriotic stamps, something I plan to remedy very soon.  A huge thanks goes out to two of my club members, Diana and Susan, for generously allowing us to use the stamps you will see shortly.  I also need to thank some of my Holiday Kick Off participants for helping me get the job done.  Thank you Lynn, Kari, Sandi and Patricia for your help! Today I want to share some of the cards we had the honor of sending along on Mission 11:

To the brave men and women who were aboard that flight, I want to personally thank you.  I don't think we will ever fully appreciate all they went through and the sacrifices they made to allow us the freedoms we enjoy today.  Even with the current political debacle we are calling a Presidential election and the unrest and unease that is making daily headlines, we are so much more fortunate than most. Although you have the right and the FREEDOM to voice your opinion, show some respect to the men and woman who gave their lives to give it to you.  So, I will continue to STAND FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM with my hand over my heart in their honor and in thanks for the country we are so very Blessed to live in, even with our faults.  Because they deserve at least that much.  I will leave you today with a quote from Will Rogers:

 "We can't all be heroes.  Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they walk by".  

Well done gentlemen, well done.  

Collier County Honor Flight Mission 11:  Frank Bailey, August Brune, Richard Cantania, Francis Ciminelli, Henry Colon, Robert Daly, John DeCaro, Olin Downing, Carl Gallagher, Charles Herbst, Harlan Hummel, Richard Knur, Robert Leeks, Patsy Maiorano, Melvin Maxey, Walter Redden, Norman Regnaud, Delmont Renneke, Robert Rice, Milton Rosenberg, Frederick Schultz, Raymond Urfer


  

 

Silhouette Sunday

Greetings from Fort Lauderdale!  Mu husband and I decided to make a quick getaway this weekend to the 'other coast"  and I am writing this from our hotel room so I will make it quick!  This is the view from our room...

Today's post is a Halloween project I made with my Silhouette Cameo for a friends birthday.  As a crafter, I'm sure you are the same in that we are constantly making gifts for others while very seldom taking the time to make anything for ourselves.  My biggest partner in Silhouette crime is my friend and fellow Silhouette junkie Krista. I wanted to make something for her birthday and even though I know she has the ability, she will never take the time to do for herself.  

Her birthday is in late August so Halloween is fair game, lol!  I had been searching for an oval mirror with a black ornate frame for some time and I happened to hit pay dirt on a  Saturday shopping excursion to Home Goods. I bought two...one for Krista and one for me.  Then I searched the internet for a file that would work and traced it with my Silhouette.  Love this creepy elegant image!

I then cut the image out of black vinyl and prepped my mirror to apply it.  EPIC FAIL!  I broke the mirror in the process.  Not good. I really hope that "seven years of bad luck" thing is just an old wives tale!   .  

Fortunately I had a back up.  I used the one I got for myself and got the gift done.  Mine is still waiting to be completed, reinforcing my point, lol. Hopefully it will get done before October 1st in time to enjoy it for the Halloween season.  Here is the finished product:

Please forgive the awful pics today.  I was in such a hurry to complete her gift in time I never took a picture until the moment she received it which was in a restaurant.  But all turned out fine and I love the way she turned out! Happy Birthday Krista!  

I will leave you today with a pic of the full moon from our balcony...beautiful!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for stoppin' by!